Learning Love
by Miiv12
Summary: (One-shot for Valentines day) Gaster's live had always been easy and somewhat boring,but a certain skeleton changed that forever.


Dr. Wingdings Gaster,had a very simple live,sure it wasn't always easy being the royal scientist,  
but most of the time live was too easy on him,and it was often quite boring.

Well,that was until he got a new assistant.  
A skeleton,Comic Sans,but he prefered Sans.  
He had a brilliant mind,managing to keep  
up with Gaster's own,he even learned to understand his hand gestures,  
which most of his  
coworkers still couldn't do even after working with him for so long.

Sans wasn't the best thing that happened to him though,with the constant puns  
that seemed never ending,all the ketchup bottles and packets that  
always found their way in the strangest places,and not to mention how Sans  
would randomly fall asleep during work.

He definetly wasn't Gaster's favourite person.  
But..there was one thing,or one person he never would have met if it  
wasn't for Sans.  
And that was Sanses younger brother,Papyrus.

He knew of Papyrus before he got the change to actually meet the said skeleton,  
if Sans wasn't throwing puns at him he was talking about his sibling.  
Gaster hadn't been that intrested at first,but often it was either paper work or listening to  
Sans.

He had never learned so much about someone in just a few days,and he honestly didn't mind.  
Besides,this Papyrus was one of the only things that made Sans stay awake for more than  
10 minutes,so he had to be something of intrest.  
It was a few months after Sans started working that he was offered a change to meet the  
younger brother,he was hesitant but eventually agreed.  
It was the best decision he had ever made.

Papyrus was everything Sans said he would be,loud, energetic,and the beaming smile never seemed to  
leave his first Gaster thought he would be annoyed by this kind of behavior,  
but instead he found it..alluring.  
Their first meeting was..awkward,at least on Gaster's end.  
The moment he saw the skeleton his cheeks lit a light grey color,which thankfully wasn't very  
noticable.  
Papyrus was taller than Sans,but still about a head shorter than Gaster,which wasn't very suprising  
to bright red scarf around his neck caught Gasters attention,  
since it covered most of his neck,  
Gaster started to wonder why the skeletons neck was so intresting to him.  
The rest of the day went..fine,  
they had eaten the spaghetti Papyrus had made  
(Sans had warned him about that,but he was sure there could be no one who was worse at cooking than him,he was mistaken)  
and the whole time Gaster could feel hard pounding inside of him,  
he decided to research it later.

They said goodbye at the door,Sans only managed a tired wave and  
went up to his room,claiming to be bone-tired..Gaster hadn't even realized how much more  
nervouss he was when left alone with Papyrus.

"IT WAS GREAT TO MEET YOU ,TRULY I HAVEN'T SEEN MY BROTHER SO DEVOTED TO SOMETHING IN A LONG TIME,THANK YOU."

Gaster coughed,trying to keep his voice as clear as possible,since he didn't use it often.  
"Please,just call me Gaster..it was very nice to meet you as well."  
The smile on Papyrus' face just seemed to grow and the warmth on Gaster's face did as well.  
"WELL THEN,I SHALL SEE YOU AGAIN SOON,GASTER."  
With that he closed the door,Gaster stood there for a moment,he then let out a breath  
he hadn't even realized he had been keeping for a while now.  
The pounding on his chest still as hard as ever.  
He had to get to the bottom of this.

It took a few weeks before they met again ,this time Sans had forgotten something home,  
and Papyrus had to come and bring it to him.

"HELLO GASTER!"  
Gaster jumped when he heard the loud voice from behind him,  
he turned around to greet the younger skeleton.  
"I'M SORRY!I DIDN'T MEAN TO STARTLE YOU!"  
The worried look didn't suit him at all.

"It's alright,i should be paying more attention to my surroundings."  
In truth he was trying to calm himself,but he somehow knew it wasn't because of the sudden  
loud felt rather disapointed when Papyrus left,  
but tried to ignore it and just got back to work.

The thrird time they met was in the core.  
He was walking through the core when he saw Papyrus standing there with a few of the workers.  
Curious,he walked up to them and coughed to get their attention.  
They turned to face him,Papyrus' face immediately lit up.  
"GASTER!GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN,HOW ARE YOU?"  
Gaster clenched his hands to keep them from shaking.  
"Fine,thank you..but what are you doing here,if you don't mind me asking."  
One of the worker monsters answered for him.  
"This is the guy who was hired to design those puzzles for the core,apparantly one of your lab assistants heard we needed someone for the job,and recommended this guy here."

Gaster nodded,it was obvious that Sans had been on the case,but why hadn't he heard of this?  
Usually Sans wouldn't stop talking about Papyrus,had he just not been paying attention again?

"Of course,seems that it slipped my mind,how long till the puzzles are done?"  
"Could take a few months at most,those things aren't easy to build,and our designer here  
has some weird ideas."

Gaster glared slightly,but Papyrus didn't seem bothered.  
"I shall leave you to it then..i assume we are going to be seeing each other more often now,  
Papyrus?"  
Papyrus nodded his head excitedly.  
"WE SHOULD HANG OUT AGAIN SOMETIME!IT WAS SO MUCH FUN LAST TIME."  
Gaster gave a slight smile,he noticed the workers flinched at the sight of it,  
either from never having seen it before or because they thought it looked creepy..  
they wouldn't be the first ones.

"I'll look forward to it."

Sure enough the two did get to see each other more often,sometimes walking into each other on the halls,  
sometimes Papyrus came to visit his brother on his breaks and always made sure he had time to talk with Gaster as well,  
sometimes Gaster spotted Papyrus with some of the workers, instructing them and showing how he wanted certain things done,sometimes Gaster just stood and watched,not even realizing he should be working.

Strangely enough,he sometimes thought he saw Papyrus from the corner of his eye,just looking at him as he worked.  
The pounding got stronger and stronger,and Gaster still had no idea what it was.  
All he knew was that Papyrus was the cause of it,it irritated him,but at the same time,  
it felt right.

Where as the two seemed to get closer,and got to know each other better,Sans seemed to change as well,but not in the good way.  
He always felt like Sans was glaring at him,the smile never left his face,but his eyesockets were empty,  
dark and seemed to look right through him,as if trying to find something that even Gaster didn't know was there.  
From then on Gaster tried to see Papyrus as much as possible,  
since Sans seemed calmer when his brother was  
present,he had a different effect on Gaster though.

Then one day..

It was a normal day,Sans came to work early since he and Papyrus left at the same time.  
Gaster hadn't seen the said skeleton yet,but he surely would at some point.

Their work went as normal,until Sans spoke.

"So,i noticed you've been hanging around my bro a lot lately.."  
His voice got deeper as he went on,Gaster felt a chill go down his spine,but he kept his voice calm.  
"..Yes,i enjoy his company,and the feeling seems to be mutual."

He heard a pencil snap.  
"You sound so sure Dings,  
but it kinda seems that you enjoy his company a bit too much."  
The sharp end of the pencil half flew right past his face,hitting the wall and breaking to pieces.

Gaster turned to look at Sans,about to scold him,but gulped when he realized that the shorter skeleton  
was standing right in front of him.  
Sans wasn't looking at him though,but instead kept his face pointed down.  
He grabbed Gasters turtleneck and pulled him down so their eyes met,  
Gaster felt sweat forming on his forehead.

"I know what your up to buddy,but i decided to give you a fair warning cause your my boss."  
Gaster had never felt this short in his entire live,Sans' eye glowed an icy blue.

"If i see you,all lovestruck with my bro again,your gonna have a bad time,okay?"  
Gaster' eyes grew wider,lovestruck?That word seemed familiar to him..but how?  
When Sans' grip tightened Gaster nodded his head slowly,the magic faded and Sans let go.

Sans went back to work without saying a word.

Gaster tried to work,but the word "love" seemed to be stuck on his head,  
even if he was confused as to what the word itself ment,it felt like the word was the only  
way to describe what he felt..but why did he feel this "love?" he wasn't even sure if it was a emotion,  
his brain told him to research this,find out what it meant and why Sans was angry with him.  
His soul however,had already answered those questions,he just hadn't noticed.

Once he was out of the lab he went through every book he could find,turns out that he was right,  
love was an emotion,one of the strongest and one that everyone wanted to experience.  
It had different "modes" such as "Impersonal love" and " Interpersonal love"

But what was it about love that made Sans threaten him..  
As he kept studying it,he slowly began to understand.

It was because of Papyrus,Sans had threatened him because he was in love with his brother.  
He was in love with Papyrus.

He looked through the symptoms,and sure enough they were all there.  
The nervousness.  
The pounding on his chest was his soul reacting.  
How even the worst day seemed so much better just at the sight of Papyrus.  
How he couldn't help smiling when the other skeleton smiled.  
How he had blushed and thought the younger was adorable when one of Papyrus' puzzles was complete,  
which had made him jump around in glee.  
Why he felt the need for physical contact.  
Why he felt so..happy around Papyrus.

He was in love.

This however brought a new question.  
How did Papyrus feel towards him?

Usually he was an open book,but in this case it was hard to say anything for sure.  
Papyrus treated everyone the same,with kidness that never seemed to falter.  
Gaster let his head hit the desk,from what he learned it was important that the person you loved  
returned those feelings,and the idea of Papyrus not feeling the same..  
It made him sad.

He had to find out,one way or another.  
It would be hard,with Sans most likely watching his every move,but it was a challenge.  
A challenge he was determined to overcome.

Gaster was new to dealing with emotions,but they were science too,just a bit different from what he was used to,but he would learn.  
Asking Papyrus directly had too many ways of it going wrong.  
He could lie,Gaster knew Papyrus didn't lie,but there was always the possibility.  
He could get strartled by the question,and in the worst case tell Sans about it.

And Gaster really wanted to avoid that.

Getting someone else to ask seemed like a good idea,until he realized he had no one to ask.  
He didn't want to let people he hardly knew know about his personal live,at least not more than was  
necessary,Sans was out of the question.

There was Alphys,but she was even more awkward than him,so she wouldn't be much help.  
He was somewhat close with the king and queen,they were married so obviously they loved each other,  
so perhaps they could give him some idea?

Just his luck when it turned out that neither of them had time.  
So he turned to the only option he had left.

Dating books.  
He was pleasantly suprised when the books had some ideas that seemed more  
appropriate than any of his.  
He had to confess his feelings if he wanted Papyrus to do the same,  
how he would do it?He was working on that.

The first try was a massive fail.  
He had decided since asking Papyrus directly was out of the question,he could send him a message.  
It had been harder than he first thought,but after countless tries,he managed to write  
a message, describing his emotions,and asking in a very carefull way if the feelings were returned.  
But sending the message proved to be even more difficult.

He stood there for who knows how long,holding one of his fingers right above the "send" button.  
Finally he gathered the courage to send it,he was just about to press the button..

When a white puppy jumped out of nowhere and stole the phone.  
Gaster spend the rest of the day chasing the said puppy,but he really wasn't used to running,  
and he constantly ran out of breath,eventually he gave up.

A message was not going to work.

The next idea was..a bit more risky.  
According to the book,a "romantic" approach was much more effective.  
So after watching countless amounts of anime with Alphys,he decided that he was ready to try again.

It was pretty late to the night,he stood in the forest of Snowdin,right behind the skeletonbrothers house,  
he had found an old looking music player from the dumb,he fixed it quickly,and to his luck he found what he thought was a perfect song to play.  
Alphys had shown it to him actually.

He pressed a button and the song started playing,he lifted the player as high up as he could so  
it would be easier to hear,and he waited.

"We're no strangers to love

You know the rules and so do I

A full commitment's what I'm thinking of

You wouldn't get this from any other guy

I just want to tell you how I'm feeling

Gotta make you understand

Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down

Never gonna run around and desert you

Never gonna make you cry, never gonna say goodbye

Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you"

He saw that one of the lights turned on,Gaster couldn't help the grin that spread across his face,  
it was working!

"We've known each other for so long

Your heart's been aching but you're too shy to say it

Inside we both know what's been going on

We know the game and we're gonna play it

And if you ask me how I'm feeling

Don't tell me you're too blind to see"

One of the windows opened slowly,Gaster could feel the excitement bubbling in his stomach.  
The window was now fully open,and Sans looked out,rubbing one of his eyesockets with his hand.

Gaster felt as if he had fallen into a void.

There was an awkward silence,only the music played,once the song ended Sans spoke.  
"..Nice try,but next time make sure Paps is home."  
Sans summoned his bones,all pointed towards Gaster.  
Gaster took his chance and ran as fast as he could into the forest,barely dodging the bones.  
At leats he was learning from these experiences,he would not do the same mistakes twice.

This time,he would not use tricks,he would go up to Papyrus,and tell him excatly how he felt.  
Easier said than done.  
For the next two weeks he tried,oh so tried to just go and say it..but he couldn't.

Until one day after work,he felt a sudden urge of courage,and he knew he had to use it wisely.  
While working that day he had accidentally overheard the skeleton brothers talking,and apperently  
Papyrus was going to Waterfall to see his friend Undyne.  
Gaster just knew that this was his chance.

He got to Waterfall quickly thanks to the river person,he took a look around,trying to spot the skeleton.  
He finally did catch a glimpse of him,and he ran after him.  
But life wasn't going to make it easy for him.  
He tripped,and fell to the ground in a very ungraceful way,the sand got into his eyesockets,making it harder to see.  
But he did see a hand,offering to help him up,and in the rush of the moment,he assumed it was Papyrus.  
He grabbed the hand and lifted himself to his knees and shouted.

"Listen to me!I love you!I adore you!I've worshipped you from afar for months!"  
He lowered his head,feeling the tears of joy falling down and taking the sand with them.  
"I..it's done!I said it i finally said it!"

But when he looked up again,he was met with a wrinkled,green face of an elderly tortoise.  
There was a long silence,during which Gaster managed to stand up,and slowly backed away from the scene.  
The poor confused tortoise stood there for a few more moments,before leaving as well,  
pretending the little confrontation never happened.

"This is hopeless.."  
Gaster hit his head on the table in the lab,it hadn't been long since Sans left,  
and so had everyone else,he sat alone in the dark lab.  
It was so strange,as a scientist he was knew that not every project came out perfect on the first try,or  
the second,or the having failed so many times at this task..it made him..sad.

He sighed,two of his hands on the table,while the other four were hanging on his sides,  
expressing his mood.  
There was a knock on the door.  
Weird,he thought everyone had left already.

He stood up and went to open the door,he had to look down to see that it was Alphys.  
"Alphys,what is it?" He signed with his hands,Alphys seemed strangely confident today.

"G..Gaster,you have to come with me quick!There's a problem that needs to be taken care of."  
Gaster was confused by Alphys's rather loud voice,well it wasn't too loud,but definetly not the volume  
she usually used.  
He nodded none the less and allowed her to lead him through the halls.  
After walking for quite some time,Gaster tried to speak.  
"Alphys,what is.."  
But before he could finish he was pushed backwards,he hit a wall and slid down to the floor.  
Once he recovered from the shock he realized that Alphys had pushed him into a closet,and had somehow blocked the door.

He stood up and started banging on the door.  
"Alphys!What is going on!?Open this door."  
There was no answer,instead there was a yawn,but it came from behind him.  
Gaster turned around,the closet was full of boxes,he saw a figure sitting against the wall behind a stack of  
boxes.  
When he realized that the figure was Papyrus,he swore that if it came to it he would use his own head as a  
battering ram.

"GASTER?"  
He turned to see Papyrus,now standing right next to him,he felt sweat gathering,  
his fists shook slightly,the two had never been quite this close,he felt the younger monsters arm touch one of his own,and his face just too close for comfort,he felt dizzy and apperently he showed it  
since Papyrus' face twisted slightly in worry.

"ARE YOU ALRIGHT?"  
He took one his hands,and Gaster felt himself die and go to heaven.  
"YOUR SHAKING!YOU HAVE TO SIT DOWN!"  
He wasn't given much choice when he was pretty much pressed down,he leaned against the wall,  
holding his head,trying to make the dizziness stop.  
Papyrus sat next to him,checking if there was anything physically wrong with him.

After a while Gaster calmed down,at least a little.

"Why were you sleeping in a closet Papyrus?"  
Papyrus leaned his chin against his hand,thinking for a moment before answering.  
"I FINISHED MY WORK FOR THE DAY AND I WAS GOING TO HEAD HOME,WHEN ONE OF THE SCIENTIST TOLD ME THEY NEEDED HELP,SO OF COURSE I WANTED TO HELP,BUT BEFORE I KNEW IT I WAS PUSHED IN HERE!I GUESS SHE DIDN'T HEAR ME SINCE NO ONE OPENED THE DOOR,I WAITED,SURELY SOMEONE WOULD OPEN IT EVENTUALLY,BUT I FELL ASLEEP WHILE WAITING AND HERE WE ARE!"

It was clear now,Alphys had planned this,but why?  
Why would she do something like this?

He took a deep breath,being locked in a closet with Papyrus for who knows how long could not end well.  
As long as he stayed calm and didn't lose himself,everything would be fine.  
But then Papyrus leaned towards him again,with that confused,adorable expression.  
"GASTER?I DON'T THINK YOUR QUITE ALRIGHT,YOUR FACE IS GLOWING."  
Gaster quickly touched his face and sure enough it felt warm,he tried to take deep breaths,  
but having Papyrus this close to him made it very difficult.

"Just..give me some space please?"  
His voice came out a bit more angrier than he wanted,and Papyrus seemed to notice.  
Thankfully Papyrus did as he asked,they were now sitting on the opposite ends of the room,  
Papyrus kept looking around the room,understanding that the older monster didn't want to be looked at right however,could not gather his thoughts,the pounding kept getting stronger.

Papyrus tried to look anywhere else except Gaster,since the older was clearly uncomfortable,  
they sat in silence for a while.  
"Gaster..if something is wrong you can tell me."  
Gaster was suprised when Papyrus actually spoke in a lower volume,but it didn't help the pounding at all.  
"Your my friend Gaster,i just want to help."  
There was that word, far as Gaster knew he wanted them to be **more** than friends,  
something much more.  
The silence returned for a moment,during which Papyrus managed to get closer to Gaster,  
worry clear on his voice and face.  
"Gaster?"  
He recived no answer,so he got closer.  
Gaster wasn't even looking at him,acting like a child who had done something wrong,  
which was so different from the man he knew.  
He was now sitting right in front of Gaster.

"Gaster you will feel better if you tell me what's wrong."  
He noticed how Gaster's shouldrers started to shake,soft sobbing could be heard.

"…I don't understand."  
Papyrus was suprised by the voice,it was so unlike the strong yet quiet voice that belonged to the scientist.  
"I tried to understand..but i keep making things worse.."  
The sobbing got more frequent,Gaster still had his head facing the floor.

"I usually learn so quickly..what is so different about this?!"  
Papyrus layed his hand on Gaster's knee,trying to offer some sort of support.  
"Papyrus..you don't even know..my live was so simple,boring..but now.."  
Before Papyrus could react,two of Gasters hands grabbed his hand,holding it tightly.  
"I don't know how you have such a strong effect on me.."  
Gaster finally lifted his gaze from the floor and Papyrus took in the confused and sad face,  
tears slowly fell from the scientist eyes.  
" I have never,in my live felt an emotion this strong,and it feels like it's crushing me,  
and making me float at the same ..just seeing you makes everything brighter,  
when your not smiling i feel hollow,your the last thing i think about when i fall asleep..  
and when i wake up i can't wait to see you again."

Papyrus felt his face grow warmer,and his soul beat in an unsteady rythym.  
Gaster felt the pounding getting weaker,so he continued,not even thinking about what he said.  
"I was so confused,wondering why someone had such a strong effect on me..and then,  
i found the answer..it was love,i.. i love you,there i said it!I love you!"

Gaster lowered his head again,the pounding had slowed,but now that he stopped to breath he realized what he had said.  
He quickly rose his head to look at Papyrus.  
He was still holding his hand,which was now shaking slightly.  
Gaster took a look at his face,and was met with a bright orange mess.  
"P..Papyr."  
Before he could finish he was tackled in a hug,he fell backwards,  
once he recovered from the small shock he looked down at his chest where Papyrus was holding him  
tightly,his beautiful grin bigger and brighter than ever.  
"I KNEW IT!"  
Gaster's eyes widened.  
"What?"  
Papyrus laughed.  
"I JUST KNEW THERE WAS SOMETHING OFF ABOUT YOU!I'M NOT AS OBLIVIOUS AS I MAY SEEM!"  
The younger skeleton hugged Gaster even tighter,but Gaster didn't care.  
"So..do you..?"  
He didn't have the courage to finish the question anymore,but it was understood none the less.  
There was a soft "click" kind of sound when he was pulled into a skeleton version of a "kiss"  
Gaster blushed,feeling nervous he wrapped all of his arms around Papyrus,  
as a way to keep him there for a bit longer.  
The two stayed there for a while,just enjoying each others warmth.

Then the door opened,they looked up and Gaster was relived to see Alphys there.  
But when the door was fully open he saw Sans there as well..  
The following hour consisted of Sans attacking Gaster,Papyrus trying to pull his brother off of the scientist,  
and Alphys congratulating herself for the sucessfull plan.

It did take some time,but eventually Papyrus somehow convinced Sans that he couldn't chance what had happened between the two,Sans still gave Gaster dirty looks,but now left him alone(most of the time at least)The relationship started a little awkward,Gaster wasn't sure what to do most of the time,but Papyrus was very patient and accepting.  
Soon enough they had fallen into a comfortable lifestyle,Papyrus kept coming up with more puzzles  
just so they could work close to each other just a bit longer.  
Even as their relationship got stronger Papyrus decided to live with Sans,not wanting to leave his brother all by himself,  
since he wasn't that great at taking care of himself or the house,though the two did spend some nights together,  
but Gaster was afraid of doing anything for a long while,the paranoid thought that  
Sans was behind some window making sure he didn't make any wrong moves bothere him for quite some time.  
He got over it eventually.

Gaster woke up,he rubbed his eyesockets,trying to get used to his surroundings,  
he turned to the clock and saw that it was too early to be up.  
He felt something shift next to him,he smiled when he saw that Papyrus was still asleep next to him.  
Sleep didn't come to him,so he just layed there,smiling as he watched  
his soul mate sleep soundly next to him.  
Live was much more intresting now,that was for sure

* * *

The song Gaster played is "Never gonna give you up" by Rick Astley.  
Some ideas in this fic are strongly inspired by the anime "School rumble"if you like romance/comedy and love triangles,check it out!It's hilarious!  
Also thank you Nazo677 for help with certain parts,even if they were small ^^Happy valentines day!


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